Labour, subcontractor costs, and profit are managed directly from the Estimate tab in TakeCost.
Adding Labour Costs
Open the Estimate tab.
Find the takeoff quantity you want to price.
Click + Add line item beneath the quantity.
Select or create a labour item.
Enter the labour details, including:
Quantity or hours
Unit cost or hourly rate
Markup percentage
Labour items are identified with a Labour tag.
📌 Labour quantities can be calculated automatically using production rates or entered manually.
Adding Subcontractor Costs
Subcontractor costs are added as line items in the Estimate.
Add to an Existing Quantity
Open the Estimate tab.
Locate the quantity you want to associate with the subcontractor cost.
Click + Add line item.
Create or select a subcontractor item.
Enter the subcontractor cost and markup.
Add a Standalone Item
Click + Add Item.
Choose one of the following:
Manual takeoff – Creates a quantity tied to a material.
General item – Creates a free-text line item not tied to a drawing.
Enter the item details, costs, and markup.
📌 General items are useful for subcontractor quotes such as electrical, plumbing, roofing, permits, or miscellaneous costs.
How do I add profit?
Profit is added using markup on individual line items.
When creating or editing a line item:
Enter the item cost.
Enter your desired markup percentage in the Markup field.
The Profit and Sell Price are calculated automatically.
Editing Markup
You can adjust markup at any time:
Locate the line item in the Estimate.
Click on the Markup value.
Enter a new markup percentage.
All totals update automatically in real time.
How is overall job profit calculated?
There is no single job-level markup. Overall job profit is calculated from the markup applied to each individual line item.
This allows you to:
Apply different margins to materials, labour, and subcontractors
Maintain clear cost and profit visibility
Build more accurate estimates and proposals